Day: February 2, 2018

‘The terms of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union remain vague and fluid at the time of writing. However, it is clear that the prospect has given rise to concern as to the future shape and effectiveness of environmental law following Brexit. EU environmental law, as it has evolved and expanded since the early 1970s, has exerted a profound influence over the law of the United Kingdom, and has in many areas resulted in entrenched environmental problems being tackled and environmental standards being improved.’

‘Fines for breaches of fire safety regulations are not explicitly covered by health and safety sentencing guidelines – leading to anomalies in the way in which companies are prosecuted and the ultimate fine.’

‘The focus of the new Business & Property Courts (B&PC) structure on keeping cases in the regions and not transferring them to London unless necessary has seen a judge in Bristol refuse an application to move a piece of group litigation to the capital.’

‘The Home Office has today [1 February] published the report of the independent review chaired by Professor Mona Siddiqui into the application by sharia councils in England and Wales of sharia law. In brief, the report makes three recommendations: for legislative change, for awareness campaigns and for regulation.’

‘Doctors in Newcastle have been granted permission to create Britain’s first “three-person babies” for two women who are at risk of passing on devastating and incurable genetic diseases to their children.’

‘In early November 2017, media outlets hailed the Paradise Papers as a major scoop: 13.4 million leaked documents revealed the financial details of some of the world’s leading brands, politicians, sports stars, and musicians. But this was to be no repeat of last year’s Panama Papers, in which well-known names appeared relating to criminal acts like “corruption,” “tax evasion,” and “money laundering”; the Paradise Papers failed to reveal a single crime.’

‘Two asylum seekers have won a legal challenge against the government when a high court judge ruled on Thursday that it was a breach of their human rights to allow smoking in immigration detention centres.’

‘Changes to EU trade mark law are introducing new-style trade marks like motion marks, audiovisual files and holograms. The old requirement to represent all marks graphically (written words, drawings etc) is on its way out, although of course basic lettering and graphical images still remain relevant for word and logo marks.’